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Roland12 Crepe

Oxford

No time for laces.
Shot at Sakinaw Lake Lodge www.sakinawlakelodge.com

“Never underestimate how much assistance, how much satisfaction, how much comfort, how much soul and transcendence there
might be in a well-made taco and a cold bottle of beer.”
-

Tom Robbins, Jitterbug Perfume

Even though I campaigned hard for “Apocalypse Later,” we decided to go with “The Art Issue.” Could
we have chosen a more hopelessly indefinite theme than “Art”? Is every issue of LA CANVAS not an “Art” issue
of some sort? Yes, and here’s why.
As I write this from back in mid-December, I’m finding that my shady spot beneath the tree of doom
may actually be the perfect place to ponder the function of Art. When survival is no longer an option—let alone a
concern—how will you choose to elevate your final moments? Will you crank Vivaldi and pirouette around your living
room while sipping outrageously expensive wine and gorging on bacon-wrapped dates? Or perhaps break into that
reserve supply of Bud Light and fire-up the taco-matic as KLOS bids you farewell with nothing but the classics?
Don’t get me wrong—I’m not peacing-out to Madagascar upon completion of this letter. But no matter
how thoroughly it’s been debunked by accounting errors (leap year) or whatever qualifies as science (Susan
Miller?), a looming Mayan prophecy produces at least a whisper of wonder in even the best skeptic. And I’m
only an average-to-satisfactory skeptic, which means I plan to carpe diem on apocalypse-eve, as it is the best
excuse for a morbidly decadent meal I’ve had to date (Y2K, please).
Ultimately, what all of this final-countdown indulgence reinforces is the idea that creations become
Art by way of how we experience them—a statement so subjective as to inflate the definition to an even more
incircumventable size than I had previously imagined.
Let’s break it down. Classically, anyone who channels their passion into the creation of a surplus,
ideally transcendent* experience might be an “Artist;” whereas someone who skillfully improves a vital or
commercial experience might just be a “Designer,” an “Artisan,” or a “Cook.” But a lifestyle publication like LA
CANVAS can’t help but dig for holes in that distinction when looking for value across all forms of production.
Especially because as notions of highbrow and lowbrow inch towards a truce, people seem primed to find
meaning in the most inane things. For example, in one of Earth’s most ubiquitous art forms, popular music, the
past few years saw artists frequently seeking pre-apocalyptic transcendence via “the Party,”—the last hurrahs
of a doomed yet invincible youth.* So as I sit here deliberating what to eat on 12/20/12, I can’t help but wonder
if even Kim Kardashian is kind of an artist in a very post-Art way. (I mean, have you seen her instagram?)
I don’t have all the answers,* but ultimately, what I can say is that as always this issue features a
group of LA artists—or whatevers—that we are decidedly proud to present. Between drone-folk-metal singer
Chelsea Wolfe (p. 20), mad genius photographer Jay Mark Johnson (p. 28), the designer of one the world’s most
iconic street wear brands, Stussy (p. 46), and Raw Food pioneer Matthew Kenney (p. 54), there is more than
enough art to break up the “Eh.”*

*1 Defined simply as surpassing the usual limits of ordinary experience.
*2 See “Till the World Ends” by Britney Spears, “We Are Young” by Fun, “Give Me Everything” by Pittbull.
*3 But because I care, I will tell you that the first person to make a sound after the question is posed has the box. (You’ll thank me later.)
*4 Math. Earth – art = eh.

NOTED
ECHONOMIX
What kind of band is handpicked to open for Nine Inch Nails at their final
show and then proceeds to perform before No Doubt? Riding on a rather
Japanese wave of pastel freakiness, LA electro duo Io Echo are poised to
bridge the gap between goth-art gloom and quirky princess pop. To add more
famous names to the mix, they’ve recently had two music videos directed by
Natalie Portman’s ballet-genius baby daddy Benjamin Millepied. And did we
mention they scored James Franco’s new movie? Only in LA.
IOECHOMUSIC.COM

CARNIVOROUS
You mean the bacon is—in—the burger? Finally, mad-genius SoCal burger lab
Slater’s 50/50 hits a bit closer to home with a new location in Old Pasadena. Aside
from the famous 50% beef, 50% bacon burger Slater’s is named for, the new spot
boasts over one hundred beers on tap and a thorough menu of over-the-top comfort
food suitable for any diet—yes, veggie and gluten-free fiends are welcome. But who
can stick to a regimen when there’s the option to have a Bacon Cheeseburger Salad
followed by a B’B’Bacon burger finished off with 50/50’s Famous Bacon Brownie
and washed down with a Bacon Old Fashioned? Dreams really do come true.
SLATERS5050.COM

EXCUSE ME, MSTR
“Meister” is of course the German word for “Master,” and it also
happens to be the name of our favorite new series of contemporary
unisex timepieces. Valuing craftsmanship over trend, Meister
watches are what our post-apocalypitc accessory dreams are made
of. Carbon fiber, stainless steel, and an assortment of leathers?
Yeah, we fux with that.
MSTRWATCHES.COM

THE FACTORY
The Great Art Factory is home to half-a-dozen artists and LA-based clothing brand
S.O.Terik. Local artists collaborate to produce one-off t-shirt runs along with vintage
silk pieces cut in seasonal patterns to guarantee every garment’s unique design.
All items are sewn alongside sponsored artists at S.O.Terik’s creative space in the
heart of DTLA, right around the corner from the Starbucks with the best cake-pops.
SOTERIK.COM

21
PAPER CHASE
Following Hurricane Katrina, a teenaged Jesse Woodard, a.k.a Chase N. Cashe,
relocated to LA and started teaching himself to make beats. Apparently it didn’t take
long to graduate from MPC school, because just a few years later in 2009, Chase
landed an enormous break producing the much-anticipated Eminem and Lil Wayne
collab “Drop the World.” Now firmly established as a major hip-hop producer and
member of LA artist collective the Surf Club, Mr. Cashe is busy making a name for
himself as a rapper. His latest official album Charm dropped this past November; it
features appearances by A$AP Rocky and Lolah Brown with beats by araabMUZIK
and Jahil Beats alongside Cashe’s own. (Ed note: We left his set at CMJ in a daze
and with considerably less clothing than we arrived in.)
CHASENCASHE.COM

HAIR RAISING
Rat’s nest or lion’s mane, sure—but on the microscopic scale your hair actually looks
more like a DNA chain. And what happens when you dunk it in sodium hypochlorite
and then try to set it on fire is that links in the chain get lost, and your hair becomes
damaged. Luckily, we live in the Future, where the people who brought us Keratin
in the 70s are back with a new discovery. Tapping into knowledge learned from the
Human Genome Project, the smarty-pants scientists and stylists over at Joico have
formulated a revolutionary Bio-Advanced Peptide Complex that replicates your hair’s
exact missing amino acids in the exact order, reversing damage better than ever
before. The best part? The molecular miracle cure can now be found in all Joico
products,including the new pro stylers, shampoos and conditioners.
JOICO.COM

BEST FR3NEMIES
To this day, the best quote we ever overheard in a Silverlake
coffee shop is still, “he’s very Buddhist.” And when we found
out our favorite spiritual/urban clothing line and twitter crush
FR3NEMY finally launched their collection to buy online, we
put our debit cards where our mouths were. So if you’re
into religious tolerance, truth, and coexistence, peep their
collection for the swaggy indigo baby in your life this Valentine’s Day.
FRENEMYCLOTHING.COM

On one of the first truly rainy days of the season, a nearly-six-foot-tall Chelsea Wolfe
arrives at the LA CANVAS studio in head-to-toe black, her inky locks drawn like drapes around
her wide, glacier eyes. Born and raised in Northern California, Wolfe has been in Los Angeles
for a little over two years now, though from the sound of her music you’d never guess she grew
up on a diet of vitamin D. Always walking on the dark side of pretty, Wolfe’s electrified drone-

AFRAID OF

folk records can be melancholic as a light-gray drizzle or heavy as a slow evening storm.
As it turns out, today’s inclement weather has disrupted what was supposed to be a

busy morning at the end of an even busier year for the singer. In 2012, she toured Australia,
Europe, the US and Japan; wrote and recorded a new album to be released this Spring; and
unveiled a collection of eerily beautiful acoustic songs titled Unknown Rooms. “I’m not big
on dream interpretation,” Wolfe tells us in a cautious, deceptively tiny speaking voice. “But
it comes from something I read, that when you dream about unknown rooms, or when you
create rooms or spaces in your dreams, it’s representative of something about yourself that you
haven’t been ready to fully explore or become comfortable with, and I think maybe making an
acoustic record was something I wasn’t ready to do until then.”
In a sense, the obstacle of becoming comfortable with herself has shaped the entire
course of Wolfe’s career. Her initial apprehensions manifested themselves in early gigs; she used

CHELSEA

to perform wearing a veil, not quite showing audiences her face until mid-2011. And while Wolfe
has been making music since the age of nine (when she would borrow her country-musician
father’s home studio to tinker with Casio beats and record herself singing “weird” covers), it took a
lot of exploration to come to terms with the idea of being a musician in the public eye.
In 2010, after much encouragement from friends, Wolfe finally released her debut

album on nu-goth style house Pendu NYC. The Grime and the Glow was a disjointed yet
compelling collection of lo-fi eight-track recordings, culminating in a gently creepy rendition of
“You Are My Sunshine.” After a year on the road, she came back with Apokalypsis, an album
filled with idealistic reflections on the state of the Earth as humanity and nature struggle to
coexist. Named after the Greek root of the word apocalypse, the title translates to “a lifting
of the veil.” On the cover, Wolfe gazes upwards through whited-out eyes, representing the

WOLFE?

moment of epiphany that precedes destruction.
Recorded with professional musicians in a studio, Apokalypsis reached a new level

of aesthetic cohesion and sonic clarity. The sound was still gritty, distorted, and swampy, but the
subtleties of Wolfe’s vocal performance were allowed to surface above the noise—which is crucial,
because her voice is truly her instrument. Like a guitarist switching between stomp-boxes or pickups, she warps and stretches her tone and pronunciation from song to song without diluting its
recognizable idiosyncrasy. Exploring the ghostly spectrum between angelic and demonic, she uses
it to play ugly against pretty, rough against smooth.
“I’m constantly playing with contrast. The beautiful and the horrible are always

WITH PLANS TO RELEASE
HER FOURTH ALBUM IN AS
MANY

YEARS,

CHELSEA

juxtaposed in life,” Wolfe tells us later that night from her LA home. Set against the relentless
California sun, it makes sense that Wolfe has always considered herself a musical outcast.
After all, our state’s definitive pop legacy was built by the Beach Boys; and even today, when
compared to their British, Scandinavian, or East Coast counterparts, LA musicians radiate a
relatively sunny disposition.

WOLFE COMES INTO HER OWN.

But there is a vision of California in Chelsea’s music, it’s just one you don’t often

hear. In the abstract paintings of her words, the vulnerable or ominous cry of her voice, and
the smoky doldrums of her sound, there’s a space of sharp edges against a dangerous ocean,
of an ancient, wild landscape, and of dry emptiness stretched around pockets of criminal
overpopulation. “There’s constantly a ton of cars, a ton of people, everywhere you go. And
I’m sort of a solitary person, so sometimes that can be hard for me…but there are also a lot of
creative people here who are willing to work hard and get things done, and I like to get things
done.” So misfit or not, she doesn’t plan on leaving any time soon.

CHELSEAWOLFE.NET
VISIT LACANVAS.COM FOR A VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH CHELSEA WOLFE

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CHELSEAWOLFE.NET
VISIT LACANVAS.COM FOR A VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH CHELSEA WOLFE

,

RAIN DANCE
Finally. It’s grey and wet and except for the serious athletes,
nobody’s gone surfing. So let’s just stay inside and have some
tea. Maybe take a nap. Sniffle. Have a little cry even. Because
that’s what people in Portland do when they’re not hiking or
at the bookstore, right?

“Tesselate”
Alt-J

“Kill Yourself”
Chase N. Cashe

“Kiss Me Dead”
Magic Wands

“Hurricane”
MS MR

“Outsiders (Slow Version)”
Io Echo

“Flatlands”
Chelsea Wolfe

“Running Back”
How to Dress Well

“Theia”
Hundred Waters

“Break Yr Heart”
ooOoO

“I’m A Mess”
Body Language

“A Dedication”
Washed Out

“Stark Weather”
Icky Blossoms

STREAM THE FULL 32-TRACKS OF GLOOMY
GOODNESS ON THE LA CANVAS SPOTIFY

I N
T H E
VA L L E Y
BE LOW

TH E N E W E LECT RO-FOLK DUO ON THEIR AUDIO-VISUA L INSPIRATIONS

35
Somewhere in the cross section of 70s psychedelia, prairie frontier nostalgia, and lo-fi synth-pop, LA duo In the Valley
Below have built a strange world all their own. Following the release of their debut self-titled EP this Fall, vocalist Angela
Hail and vocalist/guitarist Jeffrey Jacob collaborated with director Laurent Michel Moreau to create a two-part video for
their songs “Take Me Back” and “Palm Tree Fire,” scored a residency at the Bootleg, and went on tour with Mates of State.
We caught up with the LA transplants to find out a bit more about their new project.

HAVE YOU GUYS EVER MADE A QUILT? ARE YOU AVID QUILTERS?
ANGELA: I tried to make a quilt once, it nearly drove me to madness. Respect to the Amish.
JEFFREY: I have a Quaker quilt from the 70’s on my bed.
HOW DOES THE CULTURE, LANDSCAPE AND IMAGERY OF THE OLD AMERICAN WEST INFORM YOUR MUSIC?
A & J: Growing up in Michigan and Tennessee, the west was always a mild fairy tale and it still intrigues us.
Also, there’s plenty of that landscape here to work with.
CAN YOU TELL US MORE ABOUT THE CONCEPT BEHIND THE “TAKE ME BACK” VIDEO? WHAT CAN WE EXPECT
IN PART TWO?
ANGELA: It was pure collaboration when we met Laurent Michel Moreau, an odd character with a very
strange and beautiful mind. He splits his time between Paris, Berlin and LA, and I think he brings that
influence to the video. One evening we were having visions of how the video looked with all these women.
The concept becomes more clear in part two. You can expect a little more bedlam.
DO YOU ALSO DRAW NARRATIVE INSPIRATION FROM CULT HISTORIES, FRINGE SOCIETIES OR THE OCCULT?
THERE SEEM TO BE TRACES OF THAT IN THE VIDEO.
ANGELA: I tried a couple spells in my life and got freaked out, so I have a respect for the Occult. Cults and
religions (same thing?) are profoundly fascinating. So much power and emotion is involved, and when a
group concentrates that energy it can be catastrophic or magical. It’s a phenomenon of nature like auroras
and earthquakes. So, yes, it interests us.
YOU’VE MANAGED TO MARRY A DIGITAL, ELECTRONIC PRODUCTION STYLE WITH A NOSTALGIC, OLD-TIMEY
VISUAL AESTHETIC. HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?
A & J: It wasn’t really a planned thing. We just kind of look this way and gravitate towards the visuals of the
prairie frontier. When we started ‘In The Valley Below’ we used 80’s Synths as our altar, most notably, the
well named Prophet 5. We built our sound around that. We try and write songs that are both interesting and
epic. Most everything is recorded at home or in our rehearsal studio Downtown.
HAS LIVING IN LOS ANGELES SHAPED OR CHANGED YOUR APPROACH TO MUSIC OR YOUR SOUND?
A & J: I think it pushes us to be more creative. There are a lot of great bands here, and we have to dig deep
to come up with something original. Los Angeles is full of darkness despite the sunshine. The ghosts of the
city creep in and whisper to us.
ANGELA, YOU LIVED IN A SMALL BOAT IN THE WEST INDIES. WE’RE INTRIGUED. CAN YOU TELL US MORE?
ANGELA: My ex and I decided to sell everything we owned and buy a sailboat. We intended to sail around
the world, and got as far as Dominica. A friend gave me an old warped classical guitar, which I brought
along and found that writing songs was easier and more rewarding than learning songs. Eventually El Nino
crept in and blocked the Pacific, our empty pockets turned us north, and Los Angeles split us apart.

interview REBECA ARANGO

TO

RO

CK &

They were ready to change the world.
But first, they would change each other.
Before they were the Beatles, five rowdy working class lads from the docks of Liverpool rocked out eight days
a week in the raucous clubs and red-light seediness of Hamburg, Germany, creating an epic new sound.
Direct from London, Backbeat thunders with live rollicking classics like “Twist and Shout,” “Love Me Do,”
“Long Tall Sally,” “P.S. I Love You,” “Rock and Roll Music,” “I Saw Her Standing There” and so many more!
Based on the Universal Pictures film.

January 20–March 1 Ahmanson Theatre
Pick your exact seats online!

CenterTheatreGroup.org/Backbeat
213.972.4400
season sponsors

RO

LL !

N

THE COD
E

SC A

THE FAB 4 WERE ONCE 5

37

BEHIND THE MUSIC

THE GRAMMY MUSEUM PRESERVES AND CELEBRATES MUSIC HISTORY THROUGH
INTERACTIVE EXHIBITS, ARTIFACTS, AND INTIMATE LIVE PERFORMANCES
text REBECA ARANGO
Keeping up with the incessant onslaught of recorded music is hard

also a smattering of weird pop-artifacts: stage costumes—like the little pink get-up

enough—how can we be expected to know what Muddy Waters was up to in

Beyonce wore to sing “Purple Rain” with Prince, a collection of Michael Jackson’s

the 1940s, or how many records the Beach Boys released before they ditched

signature jackets, and even an original blood-stained Andrew WK outfit—are

the surfboards and took a trip to the petting zoo? How can we understand the

ADVENTURES
IN
SPACE
&
TIME
ADVENTURES
IN
SPACE
&
TIME
ADVENTURES
IN
SPACE
&
TIME
ADVENTURES
IN
SPACE
&
TIME
ADVENTURES IN SPACE & TIME

PHOTOGRAPHER JAY MARK JOHNSON BREAKS HIS CAMERA AND BLOWS YOUR MIND

text SHANA NYS DAMBROT

THE THING ABOUT
PHOTOGRAPHY IS
ITS TRUTHINESS.

Digital-age machinations aside, the camera enjoys a

reputation for providing trustworthy, unmediated depictions of the real world, more or
less as it actually appears. Whatever filters or post-production technologies abound, the
basic idea remains that you can look at a picture and know what something looked like
in a recognizable world. But when it comes to the photographs of Jay Mark Johnson, that
presumption is turned on its head. His pictures look nothing like the world as we know
it, and they are not really meant to. Yet still, their brain-melting relationship to the truth
remains unassailable. The best thing to do is just relax, and let art and science blow your mind.
Instead of recording the optical contours of what a place looks like, JMJ has
figured out a way to record the temporal events that happen there. Instead of what a
person looks like, he records the evidence of what they’ve done—in a unique process
he calls Spacetime that produces fixed-point images depicting objects and figures
as time passes. The overall effect is ironically surreal and abstract, considering the
hyper-accuracy of the information the images contain. There is a certain conceptual
kinship with the work of video artist Bill Viola —who also manipulates time and sees
the drama of motion as central to an event’s meaning. In Viola’s case, he dramatically
slows down time to set a seemingly still image in motion; in JMJ’s case, he converts
motion into a still image. Basically by “tricking” a moving camera lens into taking
still images in a process not unlike what happens when your scanner breaks, objects
in motion appear still, while stationary surroundings appear as stripes of pure color.
Yet even though you don’t “see” the backgrounds, they play a huge role in the
images’ energy, giving liminal subconscious cues to the eye as to the urban, natural, bustling,
or remote location. He’s the only guy I know that has the surf report and the CalTech particle
physics lab on speed dial. His subjects range from ferris wheels that appear to corkscrew;
waves that carve out infinitely receding spaces; architecture that collapses; roads and rivers
that straighten out their bends; mining towns enveloped in dust storms. His travels take him
to Rome, Cambodia, Ojai, West Virginia, South America, the Venice boardwalk, and Belgrade
—no small feat considering the miniature space station he carries around with him. Besides
the ten-pound camera and hefty tripod in its own case, we’re talking 100-150 pounds of
equipment in titanium briefcases wherever he goes, and the TSA guys stop him every time.
On the ground, he relies on local drivers and guides up for driving around for hours “in
Terminator scan mode” looking for the perfect shot. From train depots to dance studios,
rain forests to recycling plants, what JMJ is really documenting are the innate, inescapable
underlying patterns of the universe, the stripped-down coordinates of where beauty comes
from—but try explaining that to your average random cabbie. He was once abandoned in
a Cozumel alligator reserve, but still he isn’t daunted. “I’m hoping this year to shoot the
Wildebeest migration in Masai.” Drivers wanted.

GALLERY OPENINGS
MARC FICHOU: CONTENANT CONTENU
Robert Berman Gallery
January 5 - February 16, 2013
Opening: January 5, 6-9pm
Marc Fichou produces cross-platform work investigating the
relationship between time, image and matter that combine
video, painting, sculpture and photography. His new exhibition
is part of the city-wide program Ceci n’est pas…Art between
France and LA, organized by the Cultural Services of the US
French Embassy. robertbermangallery.com
ANDREW SCHOULTZ: Fall Out
Mark Moore Gallery
January 12 - February 9, 2013
Opening: January 12, 6-8pm
For his first solo show at Mark Moore, SF-based artist Andrew
Schoultz translates the motifs in his frenetic two-dimensional
works into a real scale three-dimensional installation—
presenting an interrelated combination of painting, sculpture,
drawing, and collage drawing aesthetic inspiration from 15th
Century German map making and Indian miniature paintings.
markmooregallery.com
LA EXISTANCIAL
Los Angeles Contemporary Exhibitions (LACE)
January 16 - March 3, 2013
Opening: January 16, 8-10pm
LA Existancial, organized by curator Marie de Brugerolle, is an
ambitious group exhibition that brings together international
artists across generations, media, styles, and disciplines to
explore LA as myth as well as a site of cinema and crime. The
show is part of the Ceci n’est pas…Art between France and LA
programs. welcometolace.org
FREE ENTERPRISE: THE ART OF CITIZEN SPACE EXPLORATION
UC Riverside Arts Block
January 19 - May 18, 2013
Opening: January 19, 6-9pm
The first contemporary art exhibition in the US to explore implications
of civilian space travel, which represents a major political and
cultural shift away from sponsorship by the federal government
and toward a free-market, private enterprise model. This exhibition
focuses on artists who have had a deep engagement with space
exploration issues throughout the course of their work. sweeney.ucr
TILT: ALL YOU CAN EAT
Fabien Castanier Gallery
January 19 - February 17, 2013
Opening: January 19, 7-10pm
Fabien Castanier Gallery is proud to present “All You Can Eat,” a solo
exhibition by Tilt. Recognized internationally as a traditional graffiti
artist, Tilt began as a youth on the streets and train cars of Toulouse,
France. Most intersted in conveying the action of graffiti throw-ups
and tagging, Tilt’s style retains this classic hip-hop ideology. Tilt will
present new work for his solo exhibition. castaniergallery.com
SCRATCHING THE SURFACE: CONTEMPORARY WOOD SCULPTURE
Craft and Folk Art Museum (CAFAM)
January 27 - May 5, 2013
Opening: January 26, 6-9pm
An exhibition featuring the works of nine contemporary
sculptors who capitalize on the naturally occurring textures
and irregularities of wood. Using both machine-cut and natural
surfaces, each shares a proclivity for working with the grain
of wood surface via sawing, bleaching, sandblasting, and
exposure to the elements. cafam.org
LLYN FOULKES
Hammer Museum
February 3 - May 19, 2013
One of the most influential yet underrecognized artists of his
generation, Foulkes makes work that stands out for its raw,
immediate, and unfiltered qualities. His extraordinarily diverse
body of work—including impeccably painted landscapes,
mixed-media constructions, and deeply disturbing portraits—
resists categorization and defies expectations. hammer.ucla.edu

CHRIS OATEY: SOME THINGS I’VE BEEN THINKING ABOUT.
CB1 Gallery
February 24 –March 31, 2013
Opening: February 24, 5-7pm
Half of the gallery is dedicated to a solo show Chris Oatey,
whose drawings, sculptures, and installations riff on obsession,
repetition, and pattern. The other half features the group show
“Performing Methods,”curated by Oatey, with dynamic work
by Amelie Chabannes, Marc Philip van Kempen, Joey Kötting,
Pascual Sisto, Maria Walker, Joe Winter. cb1gallery.com

STUSSY’S ROOTS IN SURF AND STREET CULTURE BEGAN IN 1980,
WHEN SEAN STUSSY HAPHAZARDLY SCRIBBLED HIS NAME ONTO
ONE OF HIS CUSTOM SURFBOARDS, UNWITTINGLY CHANGING
THE STREET WEAR LANDSCAPE FOREVER. TODAY, THAT SAME
HANDWRITTEN LOGO STANDS FOR A BRAND WITH A GLOBAL
CULT FOLLOWING COMPRISED OF SURFERS, SKATERS, INDIE
KIDS AND HIP-HOP HEADS ALIKE. LAC SAT DOWN WITH STUSSY
HEAD DESIGNER NICK BOWER FOR A LITTLE INSIGHT INTO THE
ICONIC BRAND’S IDENTITY, PERSPECTIVE AND EVOLUTION.

ETRIBE
WHAT MAKES STUSSY SO ICONIC? CAN YOU TELL US A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THE

WHAT CAN’T YOU LEAVE THE HOUSE WITHOUT?

STUSSY “TRIBE”?

It depends on how long I’m leaving the house for. For a day, there’s nothing

As a brand, Stussy played a major part in the birth of a worldwide youth style.

that important, but for a week I have to have a quiver of shoes.

The OG Stussy Tribe were like-minded kids from LA, NY, London and Tokyo

that were the early style makers. They recognized that the gear Shawn Stussy

DO YOU WASH YOUR JEANS?

was making was what they wanted to represent. Tribe was a title Shawn gave

Nope, I’m only interested in indigo rigid denim. When my denims get to the

this crew who were mostly kids he had met in NYC and became his friends.

point where even I can smell them, I wash them with water only, inside out.
After that happens twice, I’m over them.

HOW HAVE YOU EXPANDED THE BRAND WHILE STAYING TRUE TO STUSSY’S
ORIGINAL CULT FOLLOWING?

STUSSY STARTED IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA WITH SURFBOARDS. HOW WAS

Our distribution in the USA is not that different from what it was some years

THE BRAND ABLE TO ADAPT AN EAST COAST SENSIBILITY?

ago; we don’t sell to a lot of stores that would like us to. The expansion

In the interest of clarity, Shawn Stussy started with surfboards, shaping

over the last ten years was in Japan, where quality and design is part of

and selling them. The brand Stussy was born when Shawn started making

their national character. More recently we’ve expanded our presence online

clothing. Stussy was originally designed for California with Reggae being the

through our own site and collaborations.

musical influence. Then in the mid 80’s, the musical influence became more

HOW CAN YOU MAKE STREET WEAR DAPPER?

Dapper is not gear, it’s a style. If that’s your thing, and you put it together
right, I guess street wear could be made dapper.

DO YOU SKATE OR SURF? HOW DID YOU BECOME INVOLVED WITH THE BRAND?

I surf. I was loosely involved, not so much with the brand, but with Shawn
because we both lived in Laguna Beach in the 80’s.The job of designing for

Stussy wasn’t offered to me till 97—two years after Shawn had left. I joined
Paul Mittleman in the design department.

about Hip-Hop—the Beastie Boys, Run DMC. It was this influence that had
an impact on the Stussy gear and made it relevant on both coasts.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EAST COAST AND WEST COAST STREET
STYLE? WHICH DO YOU PREFER?

Not much difference. The internet has changed all that. There’s a common
language to streetwear worldwide. There are obviously groups within street

style that see themselves as “local” and wear their own style, but in the big
picture we don’t design for it.

WHAT ITEM OF CLOTHING DO YOU WEAR MOST OFTEN?

WHAT’S NEXT FOR STUSSY?

Solid poplin shirts.

Making sure we stay relevant, everything will follow on from that.

STUSSY PLAYED A MAJOR PART
“
BIRTH OF A WORLDWIDE YOUTH

IN THE
STYLE.
THE OG STUSSY TRIBE WERE LIKE-MINDED
KIDS FROM LA, NY, LONDON AND TOKYO
THAT WERE THE EARLY STYLE MAKERS.

BONES AND FEATHERS
COLLECTIVE
The brainchild of Nicole Morral and Natalie Mauro, BFC is conceived and produced in the lovely Jewelry District in
Downtown LA. The girls began designing fresh flowered headpieces in 2010 and have since transitioned to molds
of puzzled bones and pieces made of recycled bullet casings. Nicole and Natalie’s combined Hawaiian/Midwestern/
Manhattan influences are especially felt in the line’s goth-inspired utilitarian boho-chic FW’12 collection.
BANDFCOLLECTIVE.COM // @BFCOLLECTIVE
PHOTO BY ROBERT SIGLER

B.LO
Blake Hardy and Logan Stanton are the real life couple of model-slash-designers
who joined forces to create re-worked vintage jewelry in 2010. After two years
of swap-meet thugging and exponential demand, the sartorially-inclined duo are
producing their first major collection, slated to drop this spring.
BLOJEWELRY.COM // @BLOJEWELRY
PHOTO BY ALEX STONE

DEAR RAYMER
It takes up to 48 hours of labor to make one of Jared Tate Johnson’s custom metal pieces. Based in
the warehouse district of Downtown LA, the jewelry artisan behind Dear Raymer has earned a loyal
following over the past six years for his raw and geometric, yet streamlined aesthetic. By using hand

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oxidized precious metals, a draping technique more often used in fashion/textile construction, and

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soldering up to 100 jump rings per piece for strength and functionality, Johnson’s taken a step

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away from the mass-produced norm and built a personalized genre of accessory design.

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DEARRAYMER.BLOGSPOT.COM/ //@DEARRAYMER

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PHOTO BY GREG GAINOR

text ERIN DENNISON

A space filled with memories, designer collectibles
and a variety of items that fit any style or budget.

all these modernist techniques that allow for different textures and lighter

under vacuum-sealed pressure in a machine called the thermal immersion

ways to prepare the food with less fat and less nuts. It’s changed from one-

circulator, and that allows us to keep all the moisture inside the mushroom

dimensional, completely raw or dehydrated recipes to utilizing the modernist

while still tenderizing it, or “cooking” it, at a low temperature whereas if

equipment and all the new ingredients that are available in the market. If

you dehydrated it, it would get dry. So that dish combines the smoking, it

people ask how we do what we do, I say the best ingredients, really innovative

combines the thermal immersion, and it’s still a salad.

techniques and equipment, and a lot of creativity.

WWW.MATTHEWKENNEYCUISINE.COM

DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVORITE RAW RE-INTERPRETATIONS OF TRADITIONAL DISHES

IS IT POSSIBLE FOR A DEDICATED PERSON TO CREATE AN INTERESTING RAW DIET

OR THINGS YOU LOVED GROWING UP?

USING WIDELY AVAILABLE INGREDIENTS? WHERE DO WE START?

I always loved pizza; we don’t call it pizza but we do a flatbread with a topping,

One of the programs we’re doing here is a guided cleanse. We have a nutritionist

it’s more of like a hummus-type of topping with fennel. And I always loved Italian

on our staff, and you can do a week-long or a month-long cleanse, and people

food, so we have this heirloom tomato lasagna, which incorporates zucchini

have the option of us preparing the food, or we can give them a digital guide

instead of pasta, but it still has pesto and tomato sauce and a macadamia nut

to let them know what they have to shop for and how to prepare it themselves.

cheese.

And we do dumplings, but they’re entirely different than a typical

There’s also my book Everyday Raw Express; all the recipes in there are done

dumpling because we’re using a young Thai coconut wrapper colored with

in less than a half hour, it doesn’t require any fancy tools, there aren’t any Thai

spinach juice, spread thin and dehydrated just enough to give it that texture.

Coconuts—you just need a good blender—so that’s a really good place to start.

Then it’s filled with kimchi, cashew, ginger, green onion and a little bit of chili.

We’re also doing a weekend intensive program here, it’s a twelve hour class, so
that’ll give people a really thorough understanding of how to get started.

VISIT LACANVAS.COM FOR A VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW KENNEY

SOUPED UP
It may be rare compared to your biweekly fro-yo craving, but a hankering
for a bowl of hot, savory, slurp-able goodness can be very downright dire.
Whether triggered by dreary days, the sniffles, or plain old nostalgia, here
are some of your best bets for scratching that old soup itch.
WEST LA

o

NONG LA CAFE

SPOT: A Vietnamese eatery isn’t so easy to find on the Westside,
so it was pretty exciting when Nong La moved into Little Osaka
last year. The home-spun food—soups, rice dishes, bahn mis
and appetizers—is as comforting as any apple pie.
SOUP: If the Pho craving strikes, any of Nong La’s five flavors
will surely satisfy. But there’s also the Bun Bo Hue, a Central
Vietnamese broth of lemongrass, beef and chili oil served with
a heap of pork patty and some nice juicy brisket.
2055 Sawtelle Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90025

VENICE

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“Break Bread. Share Wine. Feed the Soul.”

FARMHOUSE KITCHEN

SPOT: Started by two farmer’s market pros, Farmhouse
Kitchen is the latest bastion of the local food movement, now
serving up hearty but healthy food from a window on Ocean
Front Walk in Venice.
SOUP: Every day the kitchen cooks up a whole slew of organic
soups from their market haul. Alongside traditional favorites,
you’ll find inspired creations like Pomegranate Beef Stew,
Curried Squash Soup and their signature Sloppy Jake’s.
1827 Ocean Front Walk Venice, CA 90291

CULVER CITY, BEVERLY HILLS + HOLLYWOOD o M CAFE
SPOT: Macrobiotic bungalow M Café is famously a favorite
among health-conscious celebrities, but even omnivores can
get down with M’s potently yummy and diverse menu listing
everything from macro burgers to bi-bim-bop.
SOUP: A rotating selection of seasonal soups like Mushroom
Barley, Butternut Squash, or Curried Lentil accompany the
miso that’s available daily. Any option succesfully warms up a
combo of two deli salads.
Three locations; visit mcafedechaya.com

HOLLYWOOD o THE BOWERY
SPOT: LA’s first ever gastropub, this dark and cozy joint brings a
little bit of NYC to Hollywood, boasting a menu of on-point modern
comfort food—burrata and butternut squash salad, burger with
red onion confit, gravy fries with brisket—and the bar to back it up.
SOUP: There’s only one on the menu, but it’s the quintessential
one—perfected. Bowery’s Roasted Tomato Soup topped with
an Herb Goat Cheese Crouton may just be the best tomato
soup in the city, and you can have it at lunch or dinner.
6268 Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90028

SILVERLAKE o FORAGE
SPOT: This minimalist-modern Silverlake staple is familyowned, sourcing ingredients from the local farmers they’ve
known for years. You can compose your own meal from their
daily-made seasonal salads and sides, and finish it off with
one of their stunning pastries.
SOUP: Through the winter months, you’ll find one soup special daily
(except Mondays, when Forage is closed). Recent favorites include
the Butternut Squash with creme fraiche and pumpkin seed oil, as
well as the made-to-order Chicken Pozole with salsa roja.
3823 West Sunset Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90026

DOWNTOWN

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SAI SAI NOODLE BAR

SPOT: Chances are you’ve already waited in line at Daikokuya
or Shin Sen Gumi, and while they may be the reigning king and
queen of DTLA ramen, Sai Sai is definitely the unsung hero.
SOUP: Sai Sai is only open for lunch and happy hour, so pop
in before seven for some Kimchee Pork Belly or Lobster Miso
Ramen and some sake, beer or wine. And don’t forget to start
with spicy edamame and end with a selection of specialty
mochi from Bubbies in Hawaii.
501 South Olive Street Los Angeles, CA 90013

out an ever-changing list of about twenty items each night. Plates are shareable,

bread, artisanal delicacies, and house-prepared goodies.

but not too small, and ultimately they feel homespun and comforting rather than

Elegantly contained and never crowded, Cookbook takes you back to a

pretentious. While the food is old in spirit, it’s still contemporary in style; and

time before towering aisles of plastic packaging, long cash register lines and thirty-

often, simply executed dishes are elevated through an unexpected twist—like

two-pack toilet paper. And because just one magic tollbooth to the old world is a

the supremely tasty pickles we found tucked beneath a spicy Merguez sausage

bottleneck waiting to happen, Teegan did the smart thing and introduced another.

on soft grilled flatbread, or the crisp hazelnuts and savory, gooey roasted apples

You can catch a glimmer of Cortez as you dart past the Super 8

dressing up our Brussels sprouts.

on Sunset Boulevard, where floor-to-ceiling windows on the slope of Allison
Avenue reveal a warmly lit dining room barely larger than a Beverly Hills
master bath. The sparsely decorated space whispers a modern version of
rustic, with rectangular terra cotta tiles sitting beneath bare walls in stark
white and exposed brick. You can grab a stool at the modest bar offering a
view into the kitchen, or pull up a chair to one of two communal tables. Space
is limited, and reservations are not an option. Because going to Cortez is less
like your typical LA dining experience than it is like going over to Martha’s to
sip from her fabulous collection of wine and sample whatever fantastic thing

Meanwhile, the concise drink menu is all Belgian beer and rare
family-vineyard wines listed from light to heavy. And the servers will not

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only guide you towards the right bottle, but regale you with stories about the

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people and places it comes from. Naturally, the bulk of Cortez’s collection is

S

from Italy, France or Spain, where the art of wine has been perfected over

T

centuries and historical practices are being actively preserved. So if the food

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isn’t enough to transport you into the old world countryside, fear not—you can

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always pour another glass.

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she’s managed to do to Brussels sprouts this week.

A
N

1356 ALLISON AVE
LOS ANGELES, CA 90026
RESTAURANTCORTEZ.COM

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SOME LIKE IT HOT

105

text REBECA ARANGO
photo CAPTAIN

1886 BARTENDER GREG GERTMENIAN SHOWS
US THE RIGHT WAY TO MAKE A HOT COCKTAIL

RECIPE

It’s tempting to keep 1886 our little secret. This intimate cocktail
bar tucked into The Raymond’s backroom is a favorite hideout haunted by a

Chai-infused Steamed Milk

colorful history. Once the caretaker’s cottage to the old Raymond Hotel during
its turn-of-the-century heyday, the lovingly restored building is now home

5 cups Whole Milk

to some of LA’s most innovative mixologists. And so on a particularly dreary

4-5 packs sugar in the raw

winter night, we turned to 1886’s Greg Gertnenian for a lesson in hot booze.

As soon as we arrived, Greg began heating our glasses by pouring
in hot water. “Making sure all the ingredients are as hot as you can reasonably
make them before you combine them is really important,” he explained,

Heat on medium in a saucepan for 15 minutes until milk is toffee-colored,

adding, “No one wants a warm toddy.” We learn that a hot toddy is traditionally

stirring frequently. Transfer to a teapot.

just hot water, a spirit, and a sweetener (boring), but that Greg’s been busy
Hot Chai Posset

playing around with fresh green tea and Japanese whiskey; fig-infused rye

1 oz Plantation 5-year old Grand Reserve Rum

and maple syrup; and most interestingly, something called a Posset.

Dash whiskey-barrel aged or angostura bitters

“The Posset is a drink from hundreds and hundreds of years ago. It
was traditionally made by heating milk and mixing it with ale or wine to curdle

it. You would then separate the whey and spice it.” Okay—curdled anything

2 oz Chai-infused Steamed Milk

sounds terrifying, we know. Thankfully, Greg’s Hot Chai Posset is a modern
twist on the medieval punch, with spiced milk tea, nutmeg-infused whipped

Heat the teacup by pouring in boiling water and allowing it to sit for a few

cream, and a healthy dose of dark rum.

minutes. Empty the glass, then pump in whipped cream to taste. Add the rum

The resulting concoction is ideal for winding things down like only
a mix of rum and melatonin can. First, a warm, milky aroma crawls up your

and a dash of bitters. Pour Chai-infused steamed milk on top. Garnish with
grated nutmeg and another dash of bitters on top of the whipped cream.

nose and gives it a hug. A hearty swig will then leave a sweet, spicy kiss on
your tongue and a soft bite in the back of your throat. Make a big batch of
spiced milk and keep the rum coming; you’ll be either blissfully ready for bed

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For more of Greg’s toddy tips and to learn how to make his Green Tea
Toddy with Japanese whiskey, visit LACANVAS.COM

or passed out in front of your iPad with the fireplace app running.
1250 SOUTH FAIR OAKS AVE.
SOUTH PASADENA, CA 91105
WWW.THERAYMOND.COM

Performance artist, songwriter, actress, and screenwriter Drew Denny’s first feature film, The Most Fun I’ve Ever Had with My Pants
On, was undoubtedly one of our favorites screened at this year’s AFI FEST in Hollywood. The film, a quasi-autobiographical comedy-drama follows Denny, or rather, “Andy,” and best friend “Liv” as they spread her recently deceased father’s ashes across the
Southwest. The duo’s aesthetically compelling journey from Los Angeles to Austin beautifully captured the dark period in her life
with sincerity and a sense of humor. We caught up with Denny after the film festival to get a little more insight.

HAVE YOU ALWAYS BEEN ABLE TO NAVIGATE BETWEEN PERFORMING AND

DESCRIBE YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO BOTH HUMOR AND ART? HOW ARE THEY

DIRECTING? WHICH CAME FIRST? CAN YOU DESCRIBE THE PROCESS WHEN

RELATED? HUMOR AND TRAGEDY?

YOU’RE MAKING AND STARRING IN A FILM?

Humor is a brush and art is the frame—a mode of manifesting meaning and

Performing definitely came first! I performed as a musician and performance

its context, regardless of medium. In EMT school I learned that cardiac tissue

artist for years before making this film. In both music and performance art, I

cut from two different hearts will start beating on the same rhythm if placed

negotiate a desire to be completely swept up by the performance and a need

near one another. That’s how I think of humor and tragedy—composed of the

to occasionally exit my body and view the piece from afar to make sure I’m

same substance, pulsing with the same life but representing different destinies.

communicating with the audience… In many ways, that’s easier to do in live
performance because I can feel the response and resonance in the room. I’d

HOW IMPORTANT IS STRUGGLE IN NARRATIVE? ARE YOU ABLE TO CREATE

never really acted before making this film, so it was exciting and a bit scary to

WITHOUT GOING THROUGH SOMETHING DIFFICULT?

work with a pro like Sarah Hagan! She’s so natural and easy-going though, and

Struggle is the skeleton of narrative, right? Our attempts to meet our needs, to

COVER ARTIST ALLISON TORNEROS BLURS THE
BOUNDARY BETWEEN STUDIO AND STREET
Allison Torneros is part of a new generation you
might call Post-Street. Perhaps it was inevitable given the
recent passion for Street Art style, but younger artists coming
into their own under its heady influence are incorporating
its raw vibrancy and pop-culture puckishness into their
studio work, whether or not they’ve ever climbed a ladder
with a bucket of wheat paste. Growing up in the Bay Area,
Torneros has been looking at graffiti, murals, and throw-ups
since childhood. She was fascinated by “beautifully executed
artwork on cold walls and rough surfaces and environments.
I think that's partly why I like juxtaposing different styles and
elements: spontaneous splatters, dripped backgrounds, dense
details, tight subjects, the beautiful and grotesque.” Her 2004
move to LA, where Street Art is impossible to avoid, influenced
her art even more profoundly. Eight years later and with a slate
of successful gallery shows under her belt, she’s all up on that
ladder, executing an ongoing series of murals across the city.

“I

LIKE THAT OLD SAYING, ‘IF
THESE WALLS COULD TALK.’
I FEEL I'M GIVING THE WALLS
AND ENVIRONMENT A VOICE.
Her paintings begin with an energetic, free-form

splattering of paint, then a step back, allowing imagery to
emerge from the primordial chaos. “For my Design Matters show,
I painted a giant woman taking her shirt off, and a small man
standing next to her, pointing a gun. I saw those characters in
the paint, but the viewer puts together their own story by reading
their body language.” Translating the splatter-actionism to the
size and verticality of a wall isn’t easy, but she’s learning to love
freestyling with latex and spray. One of the most impressive things
about her art is its consistency of style, detail, and delicacy that
transfers seamlessly from canvas to mural. And her trademark
glossy plump lips look, if possible, even hotter on the big walls.
“I like that old saying, ‘If these walls could talk.’ I feel I'm giving
the walls and environment a voice. And sometimes that voice
is a raspy, sexy one!” And it’s not just the walls, but her true
inner self that gets a voice in these works—hence the advent of
her alter-ego, Hueman. “For a long time I was working in web
design, spending crazy hours staring at a computer screen. I was
dying to create art, and live life. I would literally repeat to myself,
‘I'm human, not a robot!’ Going by the name Hueman marked a
transformation point for me; it represents being true to yourself
and going after what you really want in life.”